Housing cost disinformation from campaign organizers

Divisive as it is, disinformation from organizers of the Valley’s Edge referendum continues. That’s not a claim we should take lightly. And it’s not a claim one should make without the conviction of knowing what is factual and true, and what is concocted and untrue. Facts serve to inform people. Disinformation serves to persuade people by deception. Let’s start with deceptions about housing cost.

Valley’s Edge is a master plan laying out a smart mix of uses, from conservation and recreational spaces to areas for jobs and commercial services, along with essential land for the variety of housing our community has now and decades into the future. The master plan doesn’t create one single lot or house, much less a floorplan needed to estimate costs.

Yet utterly concocted, opposition organizers persistently claim “starter homes and workforce housing” will cost $650,000, and a “single-family home” will cost $800,000. Nobody seems to know where those estimates originated, or what they’re based on, other than a ploy to try to convince us that Valleys Edge is meant for wealthy outsiders, not you as an existing resident. Disinformation.

The inconvenient truth for opposition organizers is Chico’s demand for housing choice is driven by local residents. That’s us. Wherever we came from. Whenever we got here. Valley’s Edge was planned and approved to serve Chico and the people who love living here, today forward.

It’s precisely because referendums are so important that campaign integrity be present and persistent. Sadly, for opposition organizers it’s been neither.